Prince of Tennis: Year One
by Eternal.Angel
Summary: Twelve year old Echizen Ryoma doesn't only have a life that revolves around tennis, but other things too, along with his senpai and friends! [Various Pairings] STATUS: DISCONTINUED!
1. Year One, Stage One

Eternal.Angel

June 28, 2007 > June 29, 2007

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis.  
**Summary: **Thanks to the J.K. Rowling's idea of writing a story that prolongs to an entire school year, I have decided to write a Prince of Tennis story that recaptures every moment of Seigaku (BE WARNED! IT'S NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ANIME OR MANGA!) Enjoy! _And don't forget to review please!_

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_Year One, Stage One_  
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* * *

Seishun Gakuen. One of the best schools in Japan, known for its strong, talented boys tennis club, with a variety of well-built players. However, Seishun Gakuen, Seigaku for short, has never achieved a win at the Nationals.

But all of that will change when a freshman moves in from America to reach his goal of being the Number One Tennis Player by joining Seigaku's Tennis Club.

oooooooooooooo

_Baka Oyaji, trying to make me late on purpose._

Twelve-year-old Echizen Ryoma stuffed his bag with folders, papers, and notebooks and took hold of his tennis things, racing down the stairs. He ran into the kitchen, gobbled down some rice and chugged the miso soup, and quickly pried open the door.

"Ittekimasu!"

The freshman hurriedly paced himself down the roads toward his new school. His breathing was heavy, and his steps were gradually increasing in speed. In no time at all, the boy had made it to school on time.

He glanced over the paper that stated his schedule and proceeded to his room. _English, ne? Piece of cake_. As he opened the door, a girl bumps into him and falls clumsily to the ground.

"Iie…" the girl whined as she got up and dusted her skirt. She turned her head and came to see two golden-like feline eyes staring through her. Her face felt hot and the student began to blush.

"An-o, gomenasai! I'm sorry I bumped into you!" apologized the schoolgirl, bowing many times as her braids flew up and down.

"You can stop now," the cold voice of Echizen Ryoma said. One of her long braids was caught by the boy which was ready to hit him on the shoulder. She looked up again and became redder in the face.

The twin braided-girl gently pulled her hair away from the boy's grasp and bowed. "Gomenasai! I didn't mean to hurt you! Gomenasai!"

"Stop apologizing, and do you mind getting out of the doorway?" questioned Echizen. She blushed once more and stepped out of the way, then left the classroom after his arrival.

Few minutes later, the teacher had come in and class had begun. Attendance was taken and sensei droned on and on about the basic greetings of the English language. His speech was quite hard to hear as his English collided with his Japanese, creating an accent. The freshman yawned and stared out the window, hoping that the first day would come to an end.

oooooooooooooo

The school day was over, and Echizen Ryoma headed towards the tennis courts, changed into proper attire. He slung his tennis bag over his shoulders and walked into the court when a loud voice irritated his ear drums.

"HEY!!!!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN'T BARGE IN LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!"

A freshman boy wearing a green shirt with vertical stripes ran towards Echizen, panting madly like a dog. He wiped his forehead with his right arm and stood straight, breathing heavily.

"Freshmen aren't allowed in the tennis courts until the coach says so, you know," said the gaudy-dressed student in a matter-of-factly manner. He beamed at himself before glancing at the tennis bag, which marked "E. Ryoma".

His eyes widened as he exclaimed, "I know you! You're that Echizen Ryoma who's in all my classes! Well, Echizen," the boy said as his tone of voice changed, "I'm sure you've just started tennis and don't have a clue about it. Well, I'll be your friend then! My name is Horio Satoshi, and I have two years of tennis experience!" Once again, Horio beamed at himself and bragged on about his "two years of tennis experience". "You see, tennis is a great sport and…are you listening, Echizen?

"Echizen?" Horio looked around, flicking his head side to side and found him talking to a senpai. "ECHIZEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed, running towards him and the senpai.

Horio placed both of his hands on his bent knees and once more panted. He looked at Echizen and complained, "Echizen! What are you doing!"

"Now, now," the senpai said, trying to calm down Horio. "This freshman just asked me a practice match, that's all."

"NANI!!!!!!!!!! ECHIZEN?! WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?! HE'S A SENPAI, THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN BEAT HIM!" Horio screamed at the top of his lungs, pointing his hand at the senpai.

The senpai patted his head said calmly said, smiling, "Don't worry. It'll be fine. Besides, I need to warm up as well. Now," he said, facing Echizen, "Let's go to the courts and have a match, shall we?"

He placed his hand on the freshman's shoulder and walked towards the tennis courts. Once in position, the senpai took hold of his black, sleek racket and asked, "Which?"

"Smooth," the boy replied in a monotonous tone. His opponent spun the racket and it twirled in the air, and landed with the "M" facing upside down.

"Rough," the senpai muttered under his breath, and his eyes immediately changed, giving it a brighter glow. "You can serve first then – I don't mind." He threw a small neon ball at Echizen, and he caught it with his right hand.

"Self-judged game," the server said, loud enough for his opponent to hear as he dribbled the tennis ball. Echizen's eyes became sharper and focused. He threw the small ball into the air, jumped while twisting his body, and his racket forcefully hit the ball towards the other side of the court.

The opponent backed himself up, and prepared to swing his racket when the ball, twisting as it rubbed a mark on the ground, bounced towards his face. The neon tennis ball whirled above his face, inches away from making a mark on the opponent.

"Pok, pok," went the tennis ball, as it jumped of the fence and landed on the ground. It rolled towards the wall and came to a stop.

"Fifteen-love," announced Ryoma as he dug through his pocket for another tennis ball, and began to dribble it once more with his left hand, his right hand tightly gripping the racket.

"So that's the Twist Serve obaa-san was talking about," the senpai said suddenly, as he got into position to attempt the freshman's deadly serve once more, smiling deviously and glaring at the feline eyes of his opponent.

"Sugoi…I NEVER KNEW ECHIZEN COULD DO THAT!" exclaimed Horio, who was shocked and stood as still as a statue, his hands clenched onto the fence.

"Do what?" two other freshmen in the tennis club asked, as each carried a green basket full of tennis balls, pausing for a brief moment to consult with Horio.

"You see that kid with the cap?" pointed out Horio, "That's Echizen Ryoma. He can do something called 'Twist Serve', and it's really good!" The boy began to sulk and pout to himself.

"Well," one of the freshmen named Kachiro Kato began, "You can at least help us clean up and pick up the tennis balls left on Court D and E." The other freshman, Katsuo Mizuno, nodded in agreement and began to walk away.

Mr. Two-Years-Of-Tennis-Experience placed a hand on Katsuo's shoulder and lowly said, "I have two years of tennis experience. And when I tell you to watch something, I mean it."

Katsuo Mizuno began to stutter, "You-u nev-er said anything-g about watch-ing-ing him play-y."

When the tennis ball stopped bouncing, the trio of freshmen went silent, and they closely watched the kid with the white cap serve his infamous "Twist Serve".

The red racket vigorously threw the ball to the other side of the court, and the black racket made an attempt to return. As it bounced off the ground, the strings of the senpai's racket were ready to snap any moment with the powerful aura of the serve, and when he couldn't hold it any longer, his grip from the racket was discontinued, and it spun around the dusty floor, leaving behind traces of dust in the air and ragged racket strings.

"Thirty-love," said Ryoma, and he took out another tennis ball from his pocket and prepared to do the Twist Serve.

The senpai sighed and held out his hand in the air, "You know what, it'd be best if we stop now. People are starting to gather anyway, and you've proven yourself good as a tennis player." He bent down to pick up his racket and the two tennis balls then placed the racket on his shoulder. "Next time though, I won't go easy on you!" He smiled and briskly walked out of the courts, surprisingly throwing the balls perfectly into the baskets, which had nearly made Kachiro and Katsuo trip over themselves.

Still standing in the court, holding his racket with his right hand, Echizen Ryoma tugged his cap downwards and sighed.

As he exited the courts with his tennis bag over his right shoulder, the three boys approached him and began to question, or rather, compliment him.

"Echizen, were you trying to kill your senpai with that Twist Serve of yours or something?!"

"Sugoi, Ryoma-kun! My name is Kachiro Kato, and I just joined the tennis club."

"Konnichiwa! I'm Katsuo Mizuno, and I also just joined the tennis club. You're really good, you know."

"Domo," said the tennis freshman as he pulled down his Fila Cap again, and he walked straight through the trio of freshmen, looking down to the ground when he bumped into yet, another senpai of the tennis club.

"Hey you!" screamed the blue-jacketed senpai. Echizen coolly backed away and briefly looked at the facial appearance of whom he crashed into just now. He wore a green headband as his brown hair wildly spread itself out, and in his eyes anger and frustration could be seen flaming.

"How dare you bump into me like that!" he shouted, his loud and angry tone shaking the wits out of the freshmen trio. "Besides, you shouldn't be so arrogant you know, trying to play a match against Momoshiro. He's a regular you know, and you wouldn't stand a chance!" The angry senpai pointed a finger directly at Echizen's face, and his grip on his racket tightened. "Momoshiro just went easy on you. He would have gone full out if he hadn't injured his right ankle and beat the crap out of you!"

"Nani?!" shocked Horio, who was taken aghast. Then he turned towards Echizen and blurted out nonsensical things, "Momoshiro-senpai was injured?! No wonder he went easy on you, Echizen! I doubt you could have beat him, unlike I, Horio Satoshi, with two years of tennis experience!" he bragged, unaware of the presence of the senpai.

The senpai tugged at Horio's gaudy shirt and yelled, spitting at his face, "What the heck are you talking about, kouzo! Just because you have two years of tennis experience, that does not mean you can beat a senpai like I am!" Horio's expression was quite easy to read: he was scared. His body was entirely numb and shaky, and sweat beads began to trickle down from his forehead. He shut his eyes closed and his teeth clattered, waiting for his punishment.

"Senpai. Let's have a practice match."

The older student loosened his grip of Horio, sending him plummeting to the rocky ground. He glared at the boy with the White Fila Cap, and smirked, putting on a different voice, "Sure. Just hope you don't cry to your mommy once you lose."

Ryoma and the other senpai entered the court and took their positions. Arrogantly, the senpai declared, "I'll serve first and go easy on you. Let's see how well you do without that Twist Serve of yours." He threw the ball into the air and served.

_Che. The same thing you get everyday when you match against someone stupid and arrogant._ Easily, the freshman tennis player returned the tennis ball at the corner, which the senpai had not expected.

"Kouzo…" the senpai narrowed his eyes, and he began making irritating sounds. He approached towards the net and gave a menacing glare at the boy, and lifted his racket into the air. It swung down furiously and just as Echizen looked up to see what was going on, and realized a moment too late–––

"What is the meaning of this?" a voice rang throughout the tennis courts.

A group of second and third years made their way through the tennis court which Echizen was playing on. A third year with glasses and brown hair with highlights stepped up and repeated himself, "What is the meaning of this?"

"Umm…" the senpai began, scratching his head with his left hand as he masked himself with a pretend surprised expression.

"Arai, you shouldn't just go around playing matches without Tezuka-buchou's permission," pointed out Momoshiro, who was grouped within the several tennis regulars. They all wore blue and white jackets, and on the back was imprinted, "Seigaku".

For a moment, Arai glared at Momoshiro, and then bellowed random thoughts about the freshman. Echizen simply stood on the court, tugging down his Fila Cap on a timely basis.

The captain of Seigaku's tennis club sternly ordered, interrupting Arai's long lecture of Echizen Ryoma, "The two of you. Twenty laps around the court."

"Nande?!" the second year cried, "Why do I have to be punished as well?!"

The serious look of the captain had a darker shade than before, and stoically he ordered, "Thirty laps."

The freshman excused himself from the courts and he casually dropped his tennis bag onto the benches. For a moment, he was stretching a bit, and the next, he began to run around the larger court area.

_Damn it_, thought Arai, _I better start running too, or I'll be running all day_. He quickened himself to begin running around the court, just following behind Echizen.

As the two students were running their laps, Tezuka-buchou gathered all members of the boys tennis club. "Minna," he proclaimed in a serious tone, "Today will be free play. You may choose to do whatever you want. Freshmen will clean up after practice is over. Tomorrow, we shall begin the tryouts for regulars on this tennis team. Do not let your guard down."

"HAI!" bellowed the members, before parting into their respective ways.

oooooooooooooo

The sky emitted an orange glow, and tennis practice was over. Four boys remained however, picking up abused and leftover tennis balls, loosening the pulleys that held the nets, and dusting off the courts with a very large broom.

"Did you see how the regulars played?" asked Kachiro as he picked up a few tennis balls in a corner, "Sugoi! They were so fast and make it look so easy!" The other two freshmen agreed as they were also picking up some neon colored orbs.

"Ne, Ryoma-kun," questioned Katsuo politely as he headed out to the boys' changing room.

"Hn?"

"Do you want to become a regular of Seigaku's tennis team?"

"Don't care," Ryoma replied nonchalantly, tugging his cap downwards again as he dragged the large broom across half of the court. Bits of dust whirled around for a moment and settled back to the ground.

In hearing Echizen's comment, Horio began to lead off the conversation. "With my two years of tennis experience, I'm positive that I could become one of Seigaku's regulars! Too bad we aren't able to until next year though. How I wish I could wear one of those jackets!" The boy wandered off into his own thoughts, ignoring the accident of spilling an entire basketful of tennis balls.

"Horio!" Kachiro shouted, "You've spilled all the tennis balls!"

"Nani?" wondered Horio, snapping back into reality. "I spilled all the tennis balls?"

"Mada mada dane," the freshman with the broom said aloud, just loud enough for the trio to hear him. They froze for a second, pondering and looking directly at their friend. He sighed and laid the broom against the fence, smirking to himself. He strode towards the changing room leaving behind three confused auras.

"ECHIZEN! MATTE!" Horio yelled his loudest, getting up to catch after him, but had slipped on a tennis ball and fell back down. The two other boys helped him up and threw the tennis balls messily into the baskets. Carrying baskets full of bouncing spheres, they ran after him and into the changing rooms.

"MATTE!!!!"

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_Owari_  
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* * *

**A/N:** As you can see, this is the most boring prologue, or chapter, I have written. It may seem boring in the beginning (which tends to be the habit of my writing), but as you go along, it will become more interesting and detailed. I'm not very good at writing humorous or romantic things, but I'll give it a shot. Please review and give me any feedback! I am very happy to be criticized because there is always room for improvement. Arigatou!

Ja ne, and I do not own any part of Prince of Tennis!

_Eternal.Angel_


	2. Year One, Stage Two

Eternal.Angel  
June 29, 2007 to July 3, 2007

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis.  
**Summary: **Thanks to the J.K. Rowling's idea of writing a story that prolongs to an entire school year, I have decided to write a Prince of Tennis story that recaptures every moment of Seigaku (BE WARNED! IT'S NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ANIME OR MANGA!) Enjoy! _And don't forget to review please!_

--------------------------_  
Year One, Stage Two_  
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* * *

Next morning, Echizen Ryoma forced himself up, finding his school clothes in the shaded room.

"Meow," sounded a Himalayan cat named Karupin. It sat upright on his bed, swaying its tail side to side in a slow motion.

"Not now, Karupin," the boy muttered, then yawning as he tried to find his wear. After finding his clothes he shuffled down the stairs and headed towards the bathroom, taking a brief shower before settling himself down to breakfast.

"Ah, ohayo Ryoma-san," his blue-haired cousin Nanako cheerfully greeted him, placing a bowl of rice, miso soup, and fried fish on a small square plate.

"Ohayo," he replied bluntly, and he picked up his chopsticks to wolf down his breakfast. He is a growing boy, after all, and what is better than having a Japanese breakfast to start your day?

"Tsk, tsk," commented a man behind a large newspaper. He popped his face from behind and returned to read, muffling to the boy, "Oi, seishounen, you could at least happily greet your dazzling father good morning!" He cackled aloud and then spoke in a low voice, "Oh, now this is interesting…" The flipping of the pages sounded into Ryoma's ears, and irritated, he pushed himself out of his chair and tore the newspaper away from the man's grasps.

"Oi! Seishounen, give that back!" startled the man, as he reached to grab the newspaper with his left hand.

"Yada," he said coolly, and deposited the newspaper into the trash can. "Perverted oyaji," he mumbled to himself and briskly walked into the hallway to gather his things for school.

"Ittekimasu," the twelve-year-old said, and he left the household with a loud banging from the door's closing.

"You come back here this instant, boy!" fumbled his father, Echizen Nanjiroh, former pro tennis player, who had abruptly retired due to an injury.

"Ah, Ryoma-san," thought aloud his cousin, and as she turned to clean up the table, she noticed the corner of the newspaper –– no magazine, –– sticking broadly in view out of the trash can. With a trembling hand, she picked up the dirty magazine, but only to find it even dirtier. All over the magazine were young women dressed to very close, yes, very close, to naked. Nanako's face turned red, and her brows narrowed.

"Ojii-san!" cried Nanako, as she fumed and threw the perverted magazine back to its rightful place.

oooooooooooooo

Ten minutes before class began was all the time Echizen needed to take a quick nap. Besides, he could sleep through English with no problems at all, since he was born in America and so fluent to it. He did not care much about the lessons than he cared about tennis. Tennis was life, and nothing else.

"ECHIZEN!" Horio yelled through his ear. He jerked himself upright and turned to see two big eyes with a goofy smile. _Itte…that hurts baka_, thought Ryoma as he rubbed his temples.

"Ohayo, Ryoma-kun," voiced two people, Kachiro and Katsuo. They waved at him politely, and Echizen simply nodded at them, rubbing his temple with his eyes closed still.

"I just can't wait for the regular tryouts! Too bad we freshmen can't sign up for it. Of course, if I were…" babbled Horio, as he proudly explained the process of the Seigaku Regular Tryouts. The two other freshmen intently listened to Mr. Two-Years-Of-Tennis-Experience when the classroom door slammed open, startling the conversing class.

"RYOMA-SAMA! RYOMA-SAMA!" cheered a girl with two curly pigtails as she proudly marched, or rather, barged inside.

A shy, petite girl behind her ran to catch up, patting her friend on the shoulder at the same time, squeaking, "Tomo-chan! You're embarrassing us!" She turned bright red and looked down at her shoes for a moment before returning to her task of calming down her friend.

"Oi! Shut up, would you loud-mouth!" Horio snapped, jumping off the desk and facing the pigtailed girl.

The pigtailed girl named Osakada Tomoka huffed and placed her hands on her hips. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Tomo-chan?"

"WHOEVER TELLS ME TO SHUT UP FACES MY WRATH!!!!!!!!!" roared Tomoka, lifting a chair from its desk and heaving it over her body, the chair just hovering over Horio's head, her eyes glowing with anger and evilness.

"Nani?" peeped the boy, as he cracked his neck bones to look upwards, his eyes widening at the frightening sight of the dangerous weapon. "Echizen-en," stuttered the boy as he began to shrink and dissolve into dust, "W-would y-o-ou mind-d h-hel-p-p-ing-g m-me h-here-e?" He gulped as the furniture inched closer.

"Hn?" The sleepy freshman began as he awoke from his short nap ––

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

"PUNCH! KICK! WHAM!"

"&)!)$&)&)&!&(#&!$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"BANG! BONK! BAM!"

"T-tomo-o-ch-han!"

"Daijoubuka, minna?"

"BOOM! PLONK!"

"What if we get in trouble? Sensei might hear us!"

–– "Did someone call me?" asked Echizen as he lazily forced his head, looking around the classroom.

"WHOOSH!"

"SPLAT!"

"SCREEK"

"SATOSHI! Where is your seat? SIT DOWN! And what on bloody earth are you doing sliding off the bulletin board! GET TO YOUR SEAT, NOW!"

One second too early and Echizen could have found himself flattened against the classroom wall along with the unconscious Horio, framed snuggly against the bulletin board.

oooooooooooooo

"That Osakada," muttered Horio under his breath, "I'LL GET HER NEXT TIME!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, clenching a hard rock fist as his other hand holding a basket of tennis balls spilled to the ground.

"Horio! Will you stop thinking of Osakada-san and pick up the tennis balls already!" snapped Kachiro, hitting him in the head.

Horio yelped in pain and covered the bump on his forehead with both hands. "All right, all right! I'm going to pick them up. Just stop hitting me in the head or I'll throw some tennis balls at you."

Katsuo laughed lowly before replying, "Seems like you can drop tennis balls more than you can throw them."

Suddenly, the two freshmen boys ganged up on Horio and spoke together with grim faces, "Y-y-o-u like-e O-os-sa-aka-ada-a-s-s-an-n, d-don't-t y-you-u H-h-o-ori-i-o?"

"N-nani-i?!" shouted the victim in surprise, dropping all the tennis balls again.

"HORIO!" yelled Ryuzaki-sensei, the coach of the tennis club, "Pick up those tennis balls, place them in the court, and run 10 laps around!"

Horio, whose jaw had dropped down to the ground, dropped the basket unintentionally, staring at his sensei with big eyes. The other freshmen of the tennis club, overhearing the situation, cackled and giggled to themselves as they carried around equipment.

The troubled freshman fell upon his knees and fisted the ground with both arms, "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?! I HAVE NEVR HEARD ANY OF THE FRESHMEN WHO GOT IN TROUBLE AND HAD TO RUN LAPS. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY WORLD HAS COME TO AN END…………………" he trailed off, and wandered off into heaven as his soul left him.

All the freshmen gathered around the called group, leaving behind the lifeless freshman, lying on the ground as he whimpered continuously to himself.

oooooooooooooo

After the competition, the regulars of the new year and semester had been decided: Echizen Ryoma, the only first-year ever to be a regular; Momoshiro Takeshi, the second year that was named as the "Powerhouse"; Kaidoh Kaoru, another second year who hissed from time to time, nicknamed "Mamushi" (meaning Viper); and the rest were third years: Kikumaru Eiji, red-headed and very active, who plays with acrobatics; Kawamaru Takashi, to-be-sushi-chef who is a powerful tennis player and goes crazy when he holds a racket; Oishi Shuichiro, the motherly tennis player of Seigaku who worries his head off about everything; Fuji Shusuke, a tensai and sadist who only plays tennis for his enjoyment, and likes seeing people suffer; and Tezuka Kunimitsu, a junior-high player who puts on a serious expression and currently supports Seigaku's pillar.

After a hard day's work, the tennis club had drawn to an end that day.

oooooooooooooo

The first day of practice for the regulars was organized by a former regular, Inui Sadaharu. Training was quite hard the regulars, as there was a penalty to each incorrect color stated or missed target.

Inui began to explain the rules, "We must train our footwork in order to past all the competitions. So wear it until the Nationals." He threw each regular member a pair of "Power Ankles", which contained five hundred grams total. "If you add it all together, your entire foot would weigh about one kilogram."

Momo looked at his foot for a moment and declared, "It doesn't seem that heavy." Meanwhile, Echizen was jumping on one foot, testing the heaviness.

"Today's practice will focus on eying the ball, or focusing your eyes on the ball. To improve your eyesight, I specifically ordered these color-coded balls that come in red, yellow, or blue. You state the color before you hit it with your racket, then whatever that color is you hit the tennis ball to that color cone. If you state the wrong color or miss the target…" He heaved out a noxious looking fluid inside a blender, which bubbled and gurgled, "You'll have to drink my newest drink, 'Inui Juice'."

Everyone was frightened by the sight of the terrifying features coming from the fluid, and each member worked extra hard that day. But not everybody made it through safely.

"Red!" shouted Eiji, as he prepared to hit the red cone.

Inui smirked for a moment and yelled, "Isn't that one blue?"

"Nya?" asked Eiji surprisingly, just as the tennis ball flew past him. It was indeed red and not blue.

"Inui, you cheater!" angered the acrobatic player, as he stormed around his place.

"Kikumaru, switch positions," ordered the former regular, "If you make an error, switch off. And did I forget to mention my Inui Vegetable Juice?" He held up a plastic cup of green fluid.

The curious one inspected the drink and hesitated, "What's in there?" he asked.

"Food," answered Inui, "Don't worry, I adjusted the taste." A beam of sunlight reflected and shone over his glasses, and he gave away a big grin.

Hesitating for a moment before trying the new liquid, the red-headed loser gulped it down.

"WAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!1 WHAT'S IN THIS THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed, running to the boy's bathroom.

Echizen, who just stared at his senpai running off, wondered about the toxic juice. He sweat-dropped at that fact and didn't pay attention to the hurling sphere coming his way.

"ECHIZEN! PAY ATTENTION!" bellowed the female coach. The ball missed him by inches, and Ryoma turned his head to see the motionless orb.

Out of nowhere, the Data Man appeared with another glass. Echizen gulped it down quickly and did the same as his senpai, except for tripping over a tennis ball.

Oishi and Kawamaru were next. _I can't afford to make a mistake!_ the two third years thought and talked to themselves.

The fuka-buchou, who had just realized the effect of the weights, stumbled and fell on the ground, hitting the tennis ball onto the fence. Once again, Inui came over to him with the glass of INUI'S FEARSOME DISGUSTING VEGETABLE JUICE! Oishi ran and ran towards the bathroom, holding his hand to his mouth to prevent from vomiting.

Kawamaru entered the court without his racket. He blankly stared at his classmate with a worried face. Then Fuji came with his yellow racket and said, "Here, Taka-san. Your racket."

"Ah, gomen Fuji. I forgot about that," apologized the worrisome third year. Once his hand gripped the handle, the intensity inside him grew so large that he didn't make a mistake at all.

"BURNINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

But not everything has a good ending. --

Unfortunately, Taka-san hit a blue cone instead of a red cone. The Veggie Juice Maker had another cup of his fearsome drink in hand, and immediately he ran, dropping his racket and screaming slightly.

Same thing with Momo. Although he had stated the correct color, he missed the cone by inches. Oh well. Good thing he didn't die at the very least.

Kaidoh the Viper used his Snake to hit every shot. But to be able to hit your snake technique and read the color of the ball is slightly harder than simply angling the ball towards the target directly. So he messed up a blue tennis ball for a red one.

"Haha! Is the color blue really like the color red?" laughed Horio, as his two other companions tried to hush him.

The second year gave the bragging freshman a deadly glare, which stoned him completely, causing him to fall to the ground and shatter to pieces. Kaidoh returned his attention to the court, only to find a nice, warm, and inviting cup of Inui's Juice in front of his face. He swabbed it, drank it down, threw the cup to the ground, and walked away.

At first, he was very irritated, but it didn't bother him that much.

HOPES ARE VERY HIGH!

But then, some blue stuff popped out of nowhere on his forehead.

What's that stuff? OO

He started walking faster, increasing his pace for each step he took.

That doesn't sound very good…

And then, he bolted off and out of the courts.

Hopes are very low…

Horio sighed for a moment, thinking about his previous comment before speaking, "Even Kaidoh-senpai couldn't take it, huh?" Then the trio averted their attention to the next tennis player to-be-victim of the formidable juice.

The tensai Fuji purposely messed up his training only to try the juice that everyone feared.

"Fuji!" exclaimed his classmate, abruptly waking up from the side effects of the juice, "You messed up on purpose, damn it!"

"Saa," responded Fuji, as he approached the net to receive his penalty, "I just wanted to try it once." He accepted the drink gratefully and swallowed it down.

For a second, everyone thought that Fuji too, would run like the others. But he remained standing, and as he removed the cup from his lips, the tensai sighed in happiness.

"Hmm. It's quite delicious. I recommend it." A huge sweat bead formed on Inui's head.

"You've got to be joking!" whine Eiji, as he slumped back down to the ground.

After the practice was over, Inui suggested a few improvements to everybody: "Everyone did better than I thought they would. But there's always room for improvement.

"Kikumaru, you have a habit of losing your grip during your shot. That'll improve if you develop forearm muscles.

"Oishi and Kaidoh have to work on their forward and backward movements. Kawamaru and Fuji have to work on their left and right dashes. Therefore, you need to develop your quadriceps and triceps."

All the regulars commented so far jolted upwards and shouted back, "THEN WHERE THE HELL ARE THOSE FREAKIN' PARTS?!"

Inui ignored them and continued on with his analysis, "Momoshiro, your accuracy will improve if you hold your shot to 70 percent of your full strength." The second year replied with a thumbs-up and mumbled, breathing heavily, "'kay."

"Tezuka did well in not missing anything, but he needs more flexibility. And your expression is too cold." All the regulars except for the captain, freshman, and the second year with the bandana coughed, trying to hide their boisterous laughter.

"And Echizen," Inui finally said, concluding his analysis on each member, "Let's start with two bottles of milk a day, to prevent you from shrinking away." He smirked for a moment before pushing his glasses upwards.

"Stupid rhyme Inui-senpai," commented Echizen as he stared at the two glasses, "And it's not like I'm going to grow that fast."

"JUST DRINK IT!" hollered his senpai-tachi. The freshman grumpily accepted and began to chug them down his throat.

"Going back to the subject," Inui began once more, "We need to add more weights for each practice that we have. Let's add another weight to start it off for tomorrow"

"Nah," boasted Momo as he got up from his sitting position, "I can have on five weights."

Echizen butted in, "I don't mind having six weights."

As the rest of the regulars proceeded to change in the boys' changing room, Inui intervened, "Regulars will need a minimum of ten weights." A sudden dark and purple aura loomed over the heads of Kikumaru, Fuji, Kawamaru, and Oishi.

A bunch of tennis balls began to fly towards the Data Man as he stood up, carrying some blocks in his hands.

"INUI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

oooooooooooooo

"HEH?! IS THIS SOME KIND OF MISTAKE?!" asked the assistant, peering over the shirt and then the form paper.

"Nope, I can read the 'S' bright and clear! I've been making Seigaku Jackets all my life, but there has never been one when there's a 'small'!"

The door chime rang as someone entered the store. "Ah," greeted the shopkeeper, "Welcome!"

Outside, Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter, Ryuzaki Sakuno, had watched Ryoma train during today's practice. Images flicked through her mind as she thought of what Katsuo had mentioned about him, _It's like he's in a different world, world, world…_

"Ano, Ryoma-kun!" greeted Sakuno cordially. She ran towards him to find that he was carrying something in a bag. The female bent down to look and exclaimed, "Ryoma-kun! Isn't that one of the Seigaku Regular Jackets?"

"Yea," he replied monotonously, "It just got made."

"Sugoi, Ryoma-kun! Can I see you wear the jacket?" she asked.

He blinked in confusion for a moment and said, "You're going to see me wear it anyway during practice tomorrow."

"Ah! Hai…" Sakuno said, mumbling and trailing off. Then she looked down at her feet and sighed, slightly pouting.

Echizen stared at her as thoughts ran through his mind, _She is gonna see me wear it tomorrow, so why is she looking so down? She does look kinda cute when she pouts…WHAT THE HELL AM I SAYING?! Fine…I'll just wear it, freakin' hormones. Besides, I need to see if it fits anyway…_

Snapping out of his thoughts, he took out the jacket from the bag as she continued to look down at her feet.

"Fwap," was the sound of the wind pressing against the Seigaku Regular Jacket.

"Perfect…it fits perfectly…" mumbled Ryoma, as his jacket flew with the wind behind him.

She smiled and then congratulated him: "Anou, I wanted to congratulate you on becoming a regular, Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno smiled at him, and he blushed slightly before turning to walk home.

"Domo," thanked the new regular, as he strode down the sidewalk. Again, the girl smiled and ran to catch up with him, her braids flying.

And on the rest of the way home, the two freshmen walked together in the setting sun.

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_Owari_  
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**A/N:** This chapter mostly comes from Episode Nine, but I added a few things here and there to differ the two stories. The next chapter, for sure, will have a lot of outside things. Please trust me on this one…and sorry for the late update! I was stuck on the stupid Horio phrase… Please review and give me any feedback! I am very happy to be criticized because there is always room for improvement. Arigatou!

Ja ne, and I do not own any part of Prince of Tennis!

_Eternal.Angel_


	3. Year One, Stage Three

Eternal.Angel  
July 5, 2007 to July 8, 2007

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis.  
**Summary: **Thanks to the J.K. Rowling's idea of writing a story that prolongs to an entire school year, I have decided to write a Prince of Tennis story that recaptures every moment of Seigaku (BE WARNED! IT'S NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ANIME OR MANGA!) Enjoy! _And don't forget to review please!_

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Year One, Stage Three_  
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"Class," called Fuwakawa-sensei, trying to draw her students' attention, "CLASS!"

Silence.

She coughed slightly before making her announcement, "As you can see, the school festival is coming very close, and for this year, we are to arrange a school play for the entire school to see." Sensei took out a bunch of papers and removed a pen from the cup. "Anyone have any ideas on what play we should do?"

"Goldilocks and the Three Bears; kawaii ne!"

"Nah, let's try something more _romantic_, like…Cinderella!" then the student sighed.

A male student started to snicker at the preceding suggestion and said, "Hansel and Grettel is very simple."

"Settle down everybody," warned Fuwakawa-sensei, "I will pass each person a piece of paper to write their idea on, and we will count out the votes; majority rules." The teacher began handing out little pieces of scrap paper for everyone to suggest on.

_Hn,_ thought Ryoma as he looked out the window for a moment, _I hate plays. Especially romantic ones. Stupid people…_

After all the students deposited their suggestions inside a box, and the votes were counted, the selected play was written on the chalkboard.

"S…"

"N…"

"O…"

"W…"

"W…"

"H…"

"I…"

"T…"

"E…"

"Snow White?!" hollered the class in unison all together.

"Yes, class," explained sensei, "Most likely all the girls voted for it. Besides, there are many other classes doing plays, so we should do something different. I believe no one has done Snow White before."

Every student in the class groaned.

"Tomorrow we will pick the roles and characters for each student in the class. _Everybody_ is doing something to contribute to the play." Her eyes squinted at the napping freshman with green hair.

"And to get things started, Echizen-kun shall be Snow White's Prince," retaliated the teacher, giving a slight smile.

"NANI?!!!!!"

oooooooooooooo

"Fight-o, fight-o, Ryoma-sama!" cheered on Osakada Tomoka as she threw her fist into the air. Her shy friend, Ryuzaki Sakuno, tried her best calming her down Sakuno gave a glance at her tennis prince before sighing and walking away, far, far, away from the courts.

The timid and shy girl was lost in thought, looking down at her feet as she walked. _Ryoma-kun is going to be Snow White's Prince, ne? If only I could be Snow White, then that would be nice, wouldn't it Sakuno? Then you can do 'this' and 'that' to him… _She shook her head wildly, flinging her braids side to side, and Ryuzaki blushed, blaming herself for thinking such thoughts.

"Hn? Ryuzaki-san, why are you here?"

Sakuno looked up to see the face of the tensai, Fuji. He smiled and repeated his question, "Ryuzaki-san, why are you here? Shouldn't you be watching Echizen at his match?" The mention of Ryoma-kun's name made her blush darker.

Fuji put on a small pucker face and teased, "Ryuzaki-san, you're not answering my question."

"Ah!" exclaimed Sakuno in surprise, "Gomenasai, Fuji-senpai!"

"Ryuzaki-san…" he tapped his foot and waited.

"Gomenasai, Fuji-senpai! The reason I'm over here is because I needed to think about something…" she lowered her voice at the end, barely making her sentence audible.

"Something?" asked Fuji-senpai, "Like what?"

"Ano…"

"Don't worry, _Sakuno-chan_, you can tell anything to your Fuji-senpai. Or do you not trust me?" her senpai emphasized.

"Iie, iie! Well, for the school festival, our class is doing a school play. Ryoma-kun was already chosen as the prince, and I was wondering…"

"How it would be like if you were the princess, ne?" finished Fuji, smiling at the first year. She blushed to the darkest color of red possible, possibly the color of dark blood.

Fuji glanced at her appearance and chuckled, patting her on the shoulder, "Nothing to be ashamed of. I remember my Nee-san would always do that when she was younger, daydreaming and ignoring my request to play with me." Then he bent down to his knees so he would be eye-leveled to the female, and they began to talk more.

Meanwhile, Echizen was walking over to the vending machine to grab a Grape Ponta. He tugged down his white Fila cap and sighed of how weak his opponent was. He inserted 120 yen into the machine and pressed a button when he overheard a conversation.

"…I don't know about this, Fuji-senpai."

"It won't hurt to try, would it now?"

"Demo…what about sensei? And Ryoma-kun?"

"They won't mind at all, I'm pretty sure about that. I'm your senpai anyway, right?"

"Hai, Fuji-sen…"

"Shusuke."

"Heh?"

"Call me Shusuke-kun."

"Hai, Fuj – eto, Shusuke-kun, arigatou."

"Iie, now let's get started, shall we?"

"Hai, Shusuke-kun."

Echizen madly stomped over to glare at them and overhear their conversation, and immediately broke up the two, "Ryuzaki, can I speak with you for a moment?"

"Eto…" Ryuzaki started, twiddling her fingers when he grabbed her wrist and practically dragged her, turning around a corner before disappearing out of view.

The sadist chuckled before wandering off back to the courts.

In the dark shade of the building, Ryoma stared at her with angry eyes and spoke quite coldly to her, "What were you talking about with Fuji-senpai?"

"Ano-o," she stuttered, "Fuji-senpai and I were just having a friendly chat."

"About what?" he asked harshly.

"Umm, my problems…"

"Such as?"

"Ano-o…I can't tell you, because this is between me and Shusuke-kun…"

_Shusuke-kun? Hmph!_ "Do you trust him more than you trust me?"

"Iie, I trust you well!" Ryuzaki frantically waved her hands in front of her.

"So why can't you tell me?" questioned Ryoma.

"Well, can't a girl have her own privacy?" reacted Sakuno loudly.

He was taken aback, having quite the look on his face. Seeing his expression, the girl immediately apologized to him, "Gomen, Ryoma-kun! I didn't mean to yell at you! I'm sorry, I'll answer your question now. Eto, the thing I was talking about with Shusuke-kun was that –"

Her words were cut off by his finger that pressed against her lips. Ryuzaki Sakuno blushed the darkest she could ever have, and was ready to faint at the action of the tennis prince.

"Ryuzaki-sensei is looking for you. We can talk later about this. Ja," said Echizen Ryoma, removing his finger and stuffing his hand back into his pocket while sipping on his Ponta with the other. He walked back to the courts, leaving behind a puzzled Ryuzaki Sakuno.

oooooooooooooo

The next day was the tennis match with Fudomine, and Seigaku had quite the struggle before obtaining victory.

Kawamaru Takashi handled the strong and powerful shot, Hadoukyuu, to prevent from Fuji injuring himself. However, he had the injury of a possibly broken wrist.

Therefore, Seigaku Doubles Two had to default.

Then, Echizen Ryoma, injured himself in the eye with an accidental loose grip on his racket. The cause of this was Ibu Shinji, a second year of Fudomine Middle School who used his technique 'Spot', consisting of alternating topspin and slice shots. Ryoma's red racket bounced against the net pole, and its handle deeply cut near his eyelid.

Silence.

Whispers among the crowds.

Shock.

Running footsteps.

"Ryoma-kun!" cried the coach's granddaughter, pulling out the ribbon from her school uniform, bending down next to the tennis player.

He gave her a deadly glare and scolded her, "You! How many times have I told you not to interfere during a tennis match!"

"Ryoma-kun is not a tennis player anymore! Ryoma-kun is now a injured player!" yelled back Sakuno.

"Sakuno!" hollered her obaa-chan, standing up from the bench, "Haven't I told you not to treat tennis players like that?" The granddaughter looked at her elder with shocked, widened eyes before reluctantly standing up and exiting the court.

Ryuzaki turned her back to see Ryoma being treated. She sighed at the worried looks of his senpai-tachi and walked down the sidewalk. _I can never grab Ryoma-kun's attention, his life revolves all around tennis_. _I can never be part of his mind at all, never._ She sighed again and shook her head, disappearing down the path.

Sitting under a sakura tree, her thoughts began to wander. She stared at the ground with empty eyes as the wind blew against her hair and her shoes tapped the cool pavement of the ground.

"Gomen, but do you know where Sumire Ryuzaki-sensei is?" voiced a female. Sakuno immediately looked up and saw a teenage girl with a tennis bag, and three other people standing behind her.

"You mean Obaa-chan?" questioned Ryuzaki.

"Ah," said another girl who walked next to the first one, "You must be Ryuzaki-sensei's daughter, Ryuzaki Sakuno. I heard you just joined our tennis club, neh?"

"H-hai," stammered the first year, "Ano-o, Obaa-chan is-s taking-g c-care of R-ryoma-a-kun-n right no-ow."

"Ryoma-kun? You mean that new freshman who became a regular in the Boys' Tennis Club?" politely asked another tennis player.

"H-hai," replied Ryuzaki, "H-his eye was-s inj-jured, so Obaa-chan is-s fixing-g him-m up-p right now-w."

The last of the four came from behind one of the older girls, revealing what seemed to Sakuno, quite a familiar freshman. Then the last one ran down the sidewalk, dropping her tennis bag in the middle of it.

"Ka-chan! Stop running so fast!" yelled one of the older ones. "Is the girl headed towards Ryuzaki-sensei?" Sakuno merely nodded and soon two of them ran after the freshman.

The last one of them who remained behind plopped down next to Sakuno and greeted, "Watashi wa Kiyashi Tanako desu. Now tell me, Sakuno-chan, what's the problem?" The second year smiled at her.

oooooooooooooo

"I've tried so many times, but the bleeding won't stop," Oishi stated as he threw another tissue into the top cover of the first-aid kit. "It's a good thing that the eyelid muscle wasn't damaged, but it still is a pretty deep cut."

"Echizen…" Horio on the sidelines mumbled, as the other two, Kachiro and Katsuo, worried as well.

Echizen Ryoma, with his eyes still closed, spoke suddenly, "Momo-senpai, get me my extra racket from my tennis bag." Everyone was shocked and taken aback.

"Echizen, you can't possibly play in the condition you're in right now!" some of the third years said, and the rest nodded in agreement.

"Yadda. I'm still going to play," refused the first year, as Oishi dabbed another tissue onto his wound.

The referee, overhearing the conversation, came down from the chair and walked over to the Seigaku benches. "Echizen-kun, if your wound doesn't stop bleeding, I cannot allow you to play."

"Is that so?" questioned Ryoma. He stood up and rubbed the blood off from his head with the sleeve of his t-shirt. "Does that do?"

"Uh…hai," responded the referee. "If it bleeds again, you'll have to quit." Then he walked back to the chair.

"How are we going to let you play if your eye bleeds in the middle of the game?" asked Oishi worryingly, as he tried to dry off the blood stains from Echizen's eye.

"Ryuzaki-sensei! Is everything all right?" yelled a voice. The coach's attention turned towards the sound and she placed on a smile, "Ah, Niwa! You're here. And Xinta as well as Syrin!"

Three girls headed towards Ryuzaki-sensei the nearest they could without crossing over the wall. They bent over and asked again, "What happened here, Ryuzaki-sensei?"

"It's bad," explained the coach, "One of our players, Ryoma, injured himself during the game, and the bleeding won't stop. I don't want him to play if the bleeding continues." She sighed and pointed her finger towards the injured freshman.

The youngest of the trio, Syrin Kagura, widened her eyes and tried to catch the coach's attention.

"Sensei, Ryuzaki-sensei," called the third year, Xinta Tsubaki, "Syrin is trying to tell you something."

"Hm? You figured something out, Syrin?" asked the coach. The freshman could only nod, and she began to create a picture with her hands and body.

Ryuzaki-sensei could only worry, but she breathed deeply before responding to her idea, "Let's give it a try. Ryoma! Come over here! Oishi, bring me the first-aid kit!"

Oishi hurriedly brought over the box while Ryoma slowly walked over. "This may hurt," warned the coach, as she took out some spray and a huge bandage from the kit.

"ITAI!" he screeched, fidgeting as Ryuzaki-sensei applied the treatment to his eye and forcefully stuck the large bandage.

"Ka-chan says this will hold the blood for ten to fifteen minutes max. After that, it'll be bleeding like mad," noted the third year, Niwa Junko.

After the coach finished placing on the bandage, Ryoma stood up and took his extra racket from Momo-senpai. "I'll be going now."

"Matte, Echizen," ordered his buchou, Tezuka Kunimitsu, "You will only have ten minutes to finish the match. Once you go over the time limit, we will withdraw you and default. Do I make myself clear?"

"Usu," replied the freshmen, throwing his racket over his shoulder before entering the court.

"Arigatou-gozaimasu, minna-san," bowed Oishi as he hurriedly ran in front of the three girls, "You saved us from forfeiting the match."

"Don't worry, it was nothing," accepted the buchou of the Girls' Tennis Club, Xinta Tsubaki, "It's just that Syrin here knows her medicinal subjects well." The little girl waved and smiled.

"Ganbatte, Echizen-kun!" cheered on Niwa as she threw her fist into the air.

"That reminds me," said Xinta, "We saw your granddaughter just now, Ryuzaki-sensei. I think she's with Kiyashi right now, but something seems to be wrong with her."

A worried face was plastered on Sumire's appearance, but she shook her head and firmly said, "Don't worry. I'm sure Sakuno will be fine. I have to make sure that Ryoma is able to play with his eye in that condition."

"Xinta! Niwa! Ka-chan!" yelled the second year who was comforting Sakuno, "Have you found Ryuzaki-sensei? We still need to tell her about 'this' and 'that'!"

"Hai, Tanako-chan!" yelled back Junko, "We'll tell her 'this' before 'that'! And what the heck is 'that'?!"

"Never mind," said Kiyashi, who finally caught up to their spot, "Just tell her 'this' first, and I'll tell her 'that'."

Junko nodded and turned her head towards the coach, "Ryuzaki-sensei, we've finally passed the Kantou Regions, and we're onward to the Nationals now! We defeated the Girls' Tennis Club for Ginka High."

"That's good," praised Ryuzaki-sensei, her eyes still on Ryoma, "And Kiyashi, what is 'that' supposed to be?"

The second year let out a sigh before explaining, "Your granddaughter refuses to come back here and watch the game, and she won't tell me anything about what happened after Echizen-kun was injured."

Sumire raised an eyebrow, "Is that so? Gomen, but tell Sakuno I can't come to her comfort now. Can you try sending somebody else to comfort her?"

Upon hearing this, Syrin immediately ran back from where she started. "Ka-chan!" hollered fuka-buchou Kiyashi Tanako, but the freshman kept on running. "Never mind that, Kiyashi," said Xinta, "Let's just watch this game and hope for the best."

Everyone from Seigaku nodded their heads and averted their attention to the match between Echizen Ryoma and Ibu Shinji.

oooooooooooooo

Once again, Ryuzaki Sakuno placed her head on her hands which rested on the tip of her knees. She sighed and her eyes began to wander around until she noticed a pair of black leather shoes standing firmly on the girl. Sakuno looked up to see the freshman girl from before waving and smiling with her eyes closed.

"Ah," started Ryuzaki, "Please have a seat." Her eyes opened and she sat down next to Sakuno, and then patted her on the shoulder.

"Ano-o," murmured the granddaughter, "Are-e y-you-u…" she let her question incomplete, turning away from the other girl that looked at her with a strange expression.

Swiveling her head back towards the new girl, somehow, she managed to speak the last word, "…mute?" Syrin could only nod in agreement, and immediately she pointed to her eyes and then with both of her hands, formed a flat surface while the attention of her mind was directed to the hands.

Sakuno tried her best to interpret the mute's message, "So you're telling me that I can talk to you like any other person as long as I read your eyes?" Once again, the new freshman smiled and nodded.

"Gomen, ano-o…" she looked at Syrin's eyes before speaking again, "I'm really sorry about your physical disability." Her companion just waved her hands frantically in front of her as she smiled and sweat beads formed from the top of her head.

"Ok, I won't worry about it," replied Sakuno in a cheerful tone when she suddenly noticed the dramatic change in Kagura's eyes. Fearful of this, she began twiddling her fingers, and a large amount of sweat poured down from the crown of her head, "Ano-o, nothing-g is-s wr-rong-g. I'm-m j-just-t h-having-g a b-bad d-day."

_Is that so?_ read her companion's eyes. _I heard from my senpai-tachi that you're not a very good liar, particularly to those very close to you._ Reading this, Sakuno began to sweat even more and gave out a long, and I mean a LONG sigh.

"Eto, it's just that…" started off Ryuzaki, and then abruptly changing the subject, "Can you keep a secret?" Kagura nodded and acted out 'my lips are sealed' demonstration.

"Arigatou. Anyway, it's just that I have a crush on Ryoma-kun, but I don't think he notices. He's always nice to me and all but doesn't look at me for who I am. And he's so busy with tennis, he barely notices me. That is, until I come out on the court to try and help Ryoma-kun, be he harshly refuses and tells me to stay away." Speaking her last word, her eyes began to form tears, and they dropped lightly onto the ground, forming a pool of water.

Syrin Kagura comforted her on the back and tapped her lightly to grab her attention. _Listen, Sakuno-chan. Can I tell you something?_ The crying girl could only look up and nod before burying her head back into her hands. _Sakuno-chan…_

"Ah, hai! Gomen-n!" choked out Ryuzaki as she tried to hold back the tears and wiped them away with her sleeve.

_I'm sure Echizen – that's his name right?_ (Sakuno nods) _– Echizen-kun didn't mean to reject you completely. He just doesn't want you to get hurt or anything of that sort. Although tennis is his number one priority, I'm assuming that his friends are also another thing._

"I suppose…" reluctantly agreed Sakuno, "Demo, why did he have to act so harshly?" Tears welled up in her eyes, and Kagura dug through her pocket to find a handkerchief, and she carefully dabbed the tears away from her tear ducts.

_It's his personality, or rather his nature. He can't help it if he only focuses on tennis so much. He might have to learn how to lighten up a bit_. Then her companion gave a silent laugh which Sakuno could not hear at all.

_Mentioning Echizen-kun reminds me of one my friends from long ago._

"Your friend? Is he similar to Ryoma-kun?" sniffled out Ryuzaki.

_Hai, Sakuno-chan. But slightly different. He's a little slower than Echizen-kun though._

"Oh?" questioned Sakuno as she began to giggle a little.

_Hai, Sakuno-chan. Once, when his opponent madly threw tennis balls at him, he had really bad bruises and injuries. I randomly jumped into the court and blocked as many tennis balls as I could from him._

"Daijoubu? Are you fine now?!" worried the granddaughter.

_I'm fine now, Sakuno-chan. That was back then. He actually thanked me for it_. Then Kagura gave out another silent laugh while Ryuzaki sighed.

"You're lucky, Syrin-san," commented Sakuno, "Ryoma-kun didn't thank me or anything like that."

Kagura could only pat her new friend in comfort before sending her next message through her eyes for Ryuzaki to read, _There will be a day when Echizen-kun will thank you for you. Trust me, I know._

Standing up from the pavement wall that held the sakura tree, Syrin held out her hand and smiled again, _Now then, shall we go and cheer on your tennis prince?_ Sakuno could only blush before accepting her new pal's hand and walking down the sidewalk side to side.

oooooooooooooo

Inui Sadaharu, former regular and Seigaku's Data Man, could only nervously glance at his stopwatch before returning his attention to the match. _Five minutes left_, he thought before scribbling down some notes.

Everyone, including Fudomine and other audiences, could only be silent and stare intensely at the game.

The silence was broken with running footsteps that sounded louder and louder each second. Breathing heavily before speaking, Sakuno shouted her loudest, "Ryoma-kun! Do your best! Ganbatte!" Kagura could only wave and smile, but she showed her team spirit as well.

Hearing the coach's granddaughter's support, Ryoma plastered a smirk on his face before returning his attention back to the match.

A strong wind blew and the ribbon that was tied around Sakuno's uniform was blown away from her loose clutches. The pink cloth flew high into the sky, fluttering around the outline and sunshine of the sun.

oooooooooooooo

And so, Seigaku's celebration took place at Kawamaru's Sushi, where the regulars and everyone else were offered free tea and all-you-can-eat sushi to supply their growling and empty stomachs with.

"Momo! You stole my Anago Sushi!" whined Eiji as he stared into his empty plate.

"Haha, Eiji-senpai! You weren't paying attention!" he stuffed down the sushi down his throat before coughing in pleasure.

"Nya! Not fair!" complained Eiji, when he gleamed at the sight of the lifeless sushi that sat innocently on Fuji's plate. He crept up behind him and screamed, "Nya, Fuji! What's that over there?" Fuji turned his head towards the pointed direction, and Kikumaru plopped down the sushi into his throat.

"GAK! TEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! I NEED TEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" hollered Eiji as he ran towards Kawamaru-san to request a cup of tea quickly. The tensai could only chuckle to himself before explaining the 'innocent' sushi, "Actually, Eiji, these are wasabi sushi."

Everyone sweat-dropped at the sight of them, and each and every one of them slowly inched away from the smiling sadist.

"Echizen! A picture!" requested one of the news reporters, Shiba. Echizen could only grumble and he swallowed down another piece of sushi.

As he handed over Taka-san the camera and rushed over to the freshman's side, Kawamaru-san shouted loudly, "I have here the Sushi Special! Who wants to get it?"

"NYA! I DO!" answered Eiji actively after cooling down from his tea.

"NO WAY, EIJI-SENPAI! I'M GETTING IT!" interrupted Momo as he politely thanked the sushi chef before scurrying away from his senpai.

"NYA, MOMO! YOU ALREADY HAD ENOUGH SPECIALS!" chased the red-head.

"NOT ENOUGH TO FILL MY STOMACH, NO!" responded Momo as he tripped over the rug and slipped, loosening his grip from the crate of sushi.

"HOI, HOI! THE SUSHI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Eiji as he leapt to grab for it. He crashed into Sakuno, who was sitting next to the victorious rookie, and Echizen accidentally pushed aside the news reporter, Shiba, away from the camera.

"Click," went the camera.

A photograph slipped out from the slot below, and fluttered down to the ground. Sakuno carefully picked it up with the tip of her hands and giggled to herself at the sight of it.

It was herself unintentionally sided against Ryoma, who looked quite surprise. Only one side of Shiba could be seen in the picture without her head. In the background was a pair of legs sticking up Egyptian style, twitching slightly, Momo-senpai who was in a diving position to reach the box, and the wooden crate of sushi that went flying in the air as the cover broke off from the seal, soaring like a violent Frisbee.

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Owari_  
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**A/N:** Gack! The worst chapter up…I think I was too fast on some parts…really have to slow down. BUT THERE'S SO MUCH ANIME TO SEE, READ, AND WATCH!!!!!! I'll try keeping up with my schedule people, and may I ask…what is 'life'? Please review and give me any feedback! I am very happy to be criticized because there is always room for improvement. Arigatou!

Ja ne, and I do not own any part of Prince of Tennis!

_Eternal.Angel_


	4. Year One, Stage Four

Eternal.Angel  
July 9, 2007 to July 12, 2007

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis.  
**Summary: **Thanks to the J.K. Rowling's idea of writing a story that prolongs to an entire school year, I have decided to write a Prince of Tennis story that recaptures every moment of Seigaku (BE WARNED! IT'S NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ANIME OR MANGA!) Enjoy! _And don't forget to review please!_

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Year One, Stage Four_  
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"As you can see," pointed out Fuwakawa-sensei, "The festival is drawing near in two weeks. We must prepare by quickly choosing our roles and do our assignments. All roles will be drawn by our Class President and Vice President." The President and Vice President waved their hands to the class. 

"However," rambled on the teacher, "The role for Snow White will be hand chosen by me. For those who wish to sign up…" Nearly all of the girls squealed in their seats and shot their hands into the air. "…must fulfill these requirements. One: grade averages that are above 70 percent," some hands went down, "Two: have a flexible schedule of staying after school and skipping lunch," more hands reluctantly returned to their owners, "And Three: are in the Choir or Chorus or have experienced singing lessons."

Soon, all the hands from the cheery girls had disappeared from the air. Fuwakawa-sensei only sighed and said, "I guess I will have to choose one myself then, whether she likes it or not."

While the roles were being drawn, Ryuzaki Sakuno wondered if she should audition for becoming Snow White, _Mou_, thought Ryuzaki, _I can't become Snow White. I'm about to fail English, I have tennis practice after school, but I have tried singing before._ But Sakuno only shook her head with doubtfulness before returning her attention back to the board.

"All the roles have been chosen, sensei," announced the President as the Vice President nodded in agreement.

"Excellent," said the teacher as she quickly copied down the notes on the board, "I trust you the two of you to handle this operation. Deadline is next week. We must be rehearsing by then."

"Hai, Fuwakawa-sensei," saluted the Vice President. The two boys turned their bodies towards the class and gave each person an assignment to do for the next two days.

oooooooooooooo

After school, Horio, Kachiro, and Katsuo were in the field looking for the spare tennis balls left behind.

"Mou, this is going to take forever!" Katsuo complained, wiping the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve.

"Neh, Horio, do something! Just because you're going to be the Hunter in Snow White, that doesn't mean you can boss us around!"

"It's not just being a Hunter, you know!" bragged Horio, spitting as he spoke, "You can't give up! It's still a long way before becoming a regular!"

"I know, I know," bluntly said Katsuo before turning his attention towards a figure on the other side, "Who's that over there?" The other two looked in the direction to find…

"Inui-senpai!"

"But what is he doing?" asked Kachiro wonderingly.

The trio noticed Inui digging in the field for something, and with a cheesy smile, he managed to pick out a twitching bug with some grass roots stuck to it.

"Inui-senpai…"

Horio sweat-dropped at the evil grin of his senpai, and nervously he spoke, "What is he doing?"

oooooooooooooo

As the regulars practiced rallying against one another, Tezuka and Sumire were observing them play.

"Will you be all right, Tezuka? Your injury hasn't healed yet, so you may be risking yourself just to wake him up," asked the coach.

"Don't worry, Ryuzaki-sensei," answered Tezuka, "I am affirmative with this choice. I have to do this."

"All right, Tezuka," said the coach, "You can go practice now then."

"Hai." Then the buchou walked back to the courts to call the regulars together, "Ok! Regulars, come around here for a moment."

After the seven regulars formed a circle around their captain, Tezuka began explaining the process and new training designed by Inui, "There are nine days left until the Prefecturals. From today on, regulars will be assigned with a special training menu. This will be a rally match with limitations to where the ball can land, known as Zone Practice."

"Nya?" commented Eiji, "This sounds interesting!"

Suddenly, Inui came into the court, and all the regulars turned their attentions towards the manager.

"The differences between the regulars' play style are as follow," clarified Inui, "Counter Puncher, who stay at the baseline and wait for the opponent's misses with stable strokes; they will be Kaidoh, Fuji, and Oishi. Aggressive Baseliner, who also stay at the baseline but fiercely attack; that is, Kawamaru and Momoshiro; Serve and Volley, who have talents in both speed and reflexes centered on net play, Kikumaru; and lastly, Tezuka and Echizen are All-Rounders, who use different techniques to maximize their overall strength.

"This time," continued on Inui, holding a stick pointing to the board, "Counter-Puncher and Serve and Volley will guard the entire side of the court. Aggressive-Baseliner and All-Rounder are only able to attack using only half of the court. This will be a 5-rally match, and you must stay in your shaded part only for defense. Hit outside of the shaded part and you lose, and speaking of losing…" traced off the Data Man, as he held up a glass of green liquid, "If you lose, please drink a full cup of Inui's Special Vegetable Juice."

Everybody only stared at the green fluid, while Eiji and Kaidoh formed sweat beads on their heads and showed a 'that-drink-is-really-scary-do-not-go-near-it-at-all' look. Inui simply cackled at the sight of the tennis players.

Kawamaru and Kaidoh were the first to rally; but Kaidoh lost because his Boomerang Snake had gone out. Forming a large bead of sweat at the sight of the juice, he ran out of the court immediately, slowed down slightly, and before he could take another step, collapsed as he clasped on to his stomach.

"Oi, Kaidoh! Daijoubu?"

"What did he drink this time?!"

Next up were Oishi and Momoshiro. Glancing at the current position of the 'dead' second year, both their eyes narrowed before thinking to themselves, _Can't afford…to lose…_

"Sorry, Oishi-senpai, but I'm going to win this one." With the final blow of Momo's Dunk Smash, the tennis ball knocked Oishi's racket out of the court.

_When did his Dunk Smash become so strong?_ wondered Oishi as he picked up his racket, smiling. As he stood, Inui appeared behind him with a glass of his juice.

"Uh…" Oishi mumbled as he hesitantly looked at the cup. He took the cup and drank it before running, "AHHH!" he screamed, tripping over the bottles before falling into a twitching stance.

"Oishi, oi, Oishi!" cried his Doubles Partner, Eiji.

Then it was Fuji and Tezuka. Surprisingly, it only finished so quickly, ending with Tezuka's Zero Shiki Drop Shot.

"That…was…fast…" breathed the non regulars as they stared at their captain with awe.

"Just now," said Fuji, "You played seriously, neh?"

"Of course," Tezuka replied coolly as he walked out of the courts and grabbing his bottle to drink from.

Fuji walked over to Inui as the Data Man poured his ingenious liquid into a cup, only to find that it was water.

"Hn? This says Tezuka. But that means…" his eyes turned towards the captain, then the bottle, which marked 'Inui'.

All the regulars worried their heads off for the outcome and stared nervously at Tezuka-buchou.

No reaction.

Big gaping.

"What are you all doing there? Call the next match up already," sternly ordered Tezuka.

Huge sweat drops.

Momo immediately ran over to Echizen and began whispering about their captain, "I wondered what would happen if Tezuka-buchou felt something from Inui's Juice."

A deadly, stoic glare was imprinted upon Momoshiro's back. He whinced in surprise and was shocked. He never expected the captain to eavesdrop, or rather, hear him. Echizen only turned away from his senpai before heading on to the courts to face his third year senpai, Kikumaru Eiji.

"I'm not going to drink that thing," said Eiji confidently as he swung the racket around his wrist, showing seriousness on his face.

"Kikumaru-senpai, that looks good, doesn't it?" smirked Ryoma as he prepared himself against his senpai.

Inui thought as he got ready to serve, _What's got them all hyped up? It must be this juice, the Special Golden Power Remix Inui Juice_.

Ryoma ran up to the net facing against Kikumaru. However, Inui, just now, clarified, "Oops, I forgot to mention. If you go to the net, you must defend the entire court."

Echizen, his ears hearing this, widened his eyes in disbelief, "You got to be kidding me!" His senpai only grinned and hit a lob at the opposite corner. The freshman ran for the ball, and when all this senpai-tachi and classmates thought he couldn't make it…he could.

Hitting the ball between his legs just like acrobatics, the tennis ball went over to the other side. Eiji jumped off the court with his back facing the net and caught the ball just in time. Quick as usual, Echizen ran for the ball until…

"V, V, Ochibi! It's already been five shots for me," mentioned his senpai as he held up a 'V' sign with his pointer and middle finger, then began dancing around.

The first year stared at his senpai blankly and simply swung his racket. The tennis ball flew towards the dancing acrobatic player and knocked him dead on the head, causing him to fall backwards.

"Oi, Ochibi! Inui! Give Ochibi your Inui Special Juice or whatever-you-call-it-thinga-ma-bob as much as possible!" yelled Eiji as he sat up.

"With added ingredients," presented Inui as he held a glass of the brown dirt liquid in his hand, hovering over Echizen, "it's the Special Golden Power Remix Inui Juice." Ryoma could only sweat drop and he hesitated before drinking it.

Slowly, he gulped it down, then much faster, and faster each time, until he chugged it all.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"  
"COUGH, COUGH!"

The first year could only lean over to the water fountain and drink down as much water as possible. Folding his hands on the ledge and sitting his head down, he could only repeat to himself, "Terrible…terrible…ugh…"

oooooooooooooo

It was nearly one, and twelve year old Ryuzaki Sakuno dug through her closet desperately. _Mou, I don't know what I'm going to wear!_ It was just then she received a phone call.

"Moshi moshi? Ryuzaki residence desu!" greeted Sakuno, holding the white wireless phone away from her slightly.

"Ah, Sakuno! Tomoka desu! You want to go hang out somewhere today? I have to watch over the house, and my brothers aren't home!" offered Osakada Tomoka cheerfully.

"Iie, gomen, Tomo-chan. Dakedo, I have to go with Ryoma-kun to get my racket string's fixed at Haritatsu's," solemnly rejected Sakuno as she hung her head low, blushing at the fact that she just said 'Ryoma-kun'.

"Ah, so that's the story. Don't worry, Sakuno! Just get those racket strings fixed with Ryoma-sama and…" Tomo-chan, her eyes widening, couldn't believe what she just heard from her best friend.

"EH?! A DATE WITH RYOMA-SAMA?! SAKUNO, I WANT A DATE TOO!" whined her best friend over the phone.

"It's nothing like that, Tomo-chan! We're just going to get my strings fixed! Ah!" gasped Sakuno as she looked at the clock, "I'm going to be late!" She threw the receiver onto its holder and chose a random outfit to wear.

_Wait for me, Ryoma-kun!_

oooooooooooooo

_Che_, thought Ryoma as he walked over to the closest vending machine there was in the train station, _That girl is late. A great thing to start off my Sunday when I can be practicing_.

Inserting 120 yen inside the coin slot and pressing for a Ponta, he wondered why he even agreed to go in the first place.

**FLASHBACK!**

"_Oi, Ryoma! Come over here for a sec," called Ryuzaki-sensei._

"_Hn? What is it?" bluntly asked the freshman with the racket in his hand._

"_Well, I was planning to take my granddaughter, Sakuno, to Haritatsu's this Sunday to get her racket strings fixed. But it seems that I have a meeting this Sunday and can't go with her." Sumire then made a frown on her face, while her granddaughter still had no idea what was going on._

"_Your point?"_

"_Would you mind taking Sakuno there this Sunday then?"_

"_Obaa-chan!" protested Sakuno as she tugged her sleeve._

"_You know I don't like that guy much," said Ryoma, somehow knowing that it was pointless saying that._

"_But could you please go?" pleaded Sumire._

"_Fine," answered Echizen as he tugged his white Fila cap and looked at the girl. Sakuno could only turn red at the pair of golden-like, feline eyes staring through her. Immediately she bowed and exclaimed, "Arigato-gozaimasu!"_

"_Great!" said the coach, "Then both of you meet at the station at two o' clock."_

**FLASHBACK!**

_This could possibly be the worst Sunday I've ever had so far._

"Huff, huff," breathed Sakuno heavily as she reached the station, peering around the environment, hoping to spot the tennis prince with a white Fila cap on, and possibly a Ponta.

Too late! "I missed Ryoma-kun already…Sakuno no baka," said Ryuzaki as she closed her eyes and sighed.

"What are you doing? Let's go," ordered Ryoma, who came from behind and poked her gently, making her jump.

"Ryoma-kun!" exclaimed Sakuno. She turned red at his previous action before realizing that he was a few steps ahead of her. "Matte, Ryoma-kun!" frantically called Sakuno as she hastened to catch up with the freshman.

Soon they arrived at Haritatsu's, although that wasn't the entire story.

Momoshiro and the Ichinen Trio had followed along.

**FLASHBACK!**

"_Arigatou, Momo-chan-senpai," thanked Kachiro as he took a bite out his burger._

"_Momo-chan-senpai is so nice to teach us some important things about tennis," praised Katsuo as he sipped out of his Large Coke._

"_And most important of all," pointed out Horio, "Momo-chan-senpai treated us out for free!"_

"_Well," beamed Momo, "This is my priority as a senpai, and I must fulfill it." He gave a cheesy smile at the three when he suddenly noticed Echizen walking down the sidewalk with a girl trailing behind him._

"_Ar-e?" pondered Horio aloud, "Isn't that Echizen over there?"_

"_Umm," answered Katsuo._

"_And Ryuzaki-san is with him," added Kachiro._

"_Could it be a date?" asked Katsuo._

"_Oooh, so young, so young," cheerfully said the second year as he leaned over towards the window to catch a better view when Momo realized something, and he gasped._

"_Momo-chan-senpai, what's wrong?" asked the trio at once._

"_Does Echizen even know how to go on a date?!" asked Momoshiro himself as his eyes widened in disbelief, just staring at the couple walking further down._

"_I don't think it's a date, Momo-chan-senpai," suggested Kachiro as he tugged his senpai's sleeve._

_Momoshiro could only pound his fists together as he stood up. His eyes shining brightly, he announced, "We're going to protect Echizen's date! Let's go!" As soon as he ran out of the restaurant, the freshmen followed him as well, tailing Echizen and Ryuzaki._

**FLASHBACK!**

Momo continued watching the worn-down store, hoping that someone would come. He was awfully hungry, and still he hadn't finished his burger. If he did though, he would have missed Echizen. Now which was better: a burger or Echizen on a date?

Anyhow, the sound of a sliding door came upon the four people, and they squinted to get a better view. Ryoma once again was walking down the sidewalk with his hands stuffed in his pockets, and Ryuzaki could only run in order to catch up to his brisk pace, breathing heavily.

_Echizen, do you know how to slow down for once?_ The second year signaled his kohai to follow and trail down Echizen, finding a good hiding spot.

Meanwhile, Ryuzaki Sakuno, who was having trouble catching up to the awfully fast tennis prince, felt a heavy atmosphere around her. _Mou, maybe I should say something. But that would be really awkward. But this is my only chance…is what Tomo-chan said. Mou, I don't know what to do!_

Frustrated out of her mind, she somehow lifted some courage into her chest and suddenly, her body took over her mind for a moment. With her eyes closed and brows furrowed, she deliberately ran in front of Ryoma, throwing her arms out as if she were creating a barrier. She had on a serious look, and Echizen could do nothing more than look at her with a confused face, _What in the hell is she planning now?_

Her face had suddenly changed to a much softer, kinder expression, and she smiled at him and said, "Ryoma-kun, what kind of music do you like?"

"Huh? Music? Why do you ask?" asked Ryoma, clueless of the girl.

Sakuno, who did not think too far ahead, not realizing that this would happen, blushed and nervously said, "No particular reason…" She looked down at her feet, sighing slightly.

"Damn it," whispered the powerhouse under his breath, "Do SOMETHING, Echizen!"

Sakuno, who was still disappointed from her sudden action which probably scared Ryoma to death, was interrupted through weaving her thoughts by the prince of tennis.

"You know…"

Ryuzaki looked up face to face with the cocky freshman to only see a really serious expression. She felt a shred of light shining inside of her, a tiny glimpse of hope peering through. Was he going to comfort her?

"…you're more…"

_More what? More of what?_ thought Sakuno, praying to Kami-sama, hoping that it would be a compliment of some sort that would be mouthed by _the_ tennis prince. Her heartbeat steadily increased, and she held in her breath, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

"…talkative than usual," he finished.

"You know you're more talkative than usual."

Just hearing those words made her chest ache with pain. She couldn't believe what he just said to her, she couldn't. Water began to swarm around her eyes, and she clutched her own shirt tightly. "Wahhhh," she whined as she ran off towards his direction, tears dropping out of her eyes quickly. _I'm no good, not at all like Tomo-chan! Waaahhh!_

Ryoma just spun himself around and saw the girl departing far away from him. _Now what is up with her? I've had enough of her fussing._

"OI, ECHIZEN!" yelled Momo as he pranced out of his hiding spot.

"Momo-chan-senpai!" called the trio as they tried to stop him.

"ECHIZEN!" yelled the second year as he grasped the freshman's collar, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"Uhh, waiting for her to come back?" he dumbly answered his senpai's question.

"Yarou! You can't just wait for her to come back! You have to go catch her! Even if the God of Dates forgive you, I WON'T, because I'm your senpai! Now go and catch her! It's your senpai's orders!" cried Momo as he pointed down the sidewalk, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR! WHAT IF SHE FALLS OFF THE LEDGE! GO GET HER ALREADY!" The second year pushed Echizen down the road, and after regaining his balance, did as he was told.

Of course, Echizen was very clueless. He did not know where to find her, and what he was supposed to do. Girls weren't much to him, after all. His entire life revolved around tennis. As a boy who was aiming for Number One in Tennis, do you think he really has time of such things?

_I'm going to buy some Ponta first_, thought Ryoma as he changed directions and headed towards the closest vending machine. He thought to himself as he inserted the change inside the slot (again), _So where the hell could that Ryuzaki be? If I don't find her soon, Ryuzaki-sensei will kill me._ After grabbing the can out of the vent, he ran back to the main street and continued on running.

Meanwhile, Sakuno was still running, unaware of her surroundings. She couldn't take it anymore. First, he had nearly threatened her, and the next he had teased her hurtfully. What was he going to do next? Embarrass her? It was just too much.

_Mou, maybe I was a little too hard on Ryoma-kun_, reflected Sakuno, _Blaming him for what I've done, Sakuno no baka._ She sighed and closed her eyes, tipping her head down slightly while her hands were folded behind her back, which laid on the iron ledge of the road.

A Ponta was offered and held in front of her face. Not realizing its presence after a few seconds, Ryuzaki slowly opened her eyes to find a white can imprinted 'Ponta' floating in front of her. Or rather held by Ryoma, who she traced with her eyes as she followed the arm.

"Arigatou," quietly accepted Sakuno. She took the can with both of her hands and opened it before slowly drinking the liquid down. He only nodded and laid on the ledge next to her, stuffing his hands down his pocket.

There was quite the silence, but Sakuno actually enjoyed it more than anything. Although there were those hard parts about her day, she was glad that she got to spend her day with Ryoma-kun instead of her Obaa-chan. She smiled as she tipped the can and allowed the fluid to run into her throat. It felt so refreshing to finally get over the crappy parts of their supposed 'date'.

Sneaking a glance at the cocky freshman, she couldn't help but to give a larger grin before finishing her can.

_Arigatou, Ryoma-kun._

oooooooooooooo

"NANI? IT WASN'T A DATE ECHIZEN?!"

"Urusai, Momo-senpai. It's 1 in the morning and I'm trying to get some sleep for school tomorrow. Ja," muffled back Ryoma. He turned off his cell phone and threw it onto the table.

_Dates and girls. Che. They're so confusing, who has time for them?_

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Owari_  
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**A/N:** I really am sucking on this story…so I'll put it on hold…have to work on Conquest & Ryoma is Married…to all those who enjoy this one, I'm very sorry! Next time, I will include the tennis match with Tezuka & Echizen, rehearsal of the play 'Snow White', and maybe a Halloween Special. Please review and give me any feedback! I am very happy to be criticized because there is always room for improvement. Arigatou! 

Ja ne, and I do not own any part of Prince of Tennis!

_Eternal.Angel_


	5. Author's Note

Eternal.Angel  
August 1, 2007 to August 1, 2007

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis.  
**Summary:** Thanks to the J.K. Rowling's idea of writing a story that prolongs to an entire school year, I have decided to write a Prince of Tennis story that recaptures every moment of Seigaku (BE WARNED! IT'S NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ANIME OR MANGA!) Enjoy! _And don't forget to review please!_

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Author's Note_  
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Dear Readers & Reviewers of "Prince of Tennis: Year One",

I am sorry to say that this story, unfortunately, will be discontinued. Yes, for those who adore this story, I am very sorry indeed. The reason for this action because it seems that not a lot of people like this story very much, and although I get support from those who do take their time to read, review, or perform some sort of action, I feel as if this story will not be my best one yet.

And I am so busy with a thousand other stories; I believe that I should just stop this one. I am truly sorry, really, I am. I did love the ideas I had running in my mind for those, but I realized that the plot wouldn't be that good, the characters would be OOC, and my OCs would be terrible.

If anyone would like to take the chance to continue this, please review (making sure that you are logged in). You may adjust the story to how you want, I don't care. The first one to request to continue this story will take this story, and I will send all those who review this author's note replies, saying whether you have been accepted or not.

Thank you for your time reading "Prince of Tennis: Year One". I truly enjoyed writing this story, and all my readers and reviewers who are so faithful. Arigatou-gozaimasu!

_Eternal.Angel_

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_Owari_  
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**A/N:** Oh well, discontinued…sorry! Please review and give me any feedback! I am very happy to be criticized because there is always room for improvement. Arigatou! 

Ja ne, and I do not own any part of Prince of Tennis!

_Eternal.Angel_


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